zyprexa

This is part IV in my mini-series on the role of dopamine in anorexia nervosa. In part I, I did a a little introduction on dopamine and dopamine signalling in the brain. In part II, I discussed preclinical studies using animal models to study the role of dopamine in AN. Finally, in part III, I talked about clinical studies using patients with AN to assess dopamine function. In this final post, I’ll review the evidence for using drugs that modulate the dopamine system in order to treat anorexia nervosa.

It is going to be short, because there’s really not that much evidence that any pharmacological agents help in treating anorexia nervosa. To quote the authors of this review study,

No single psychological intervention has shown clear superiority in treating adults with AN.

Most importantly,

… the first line of treatment for underweight patients with AN should be